The False War
BOOK ONE, PACING UP AND DOWN THE GALAXY
› Missing Pieces, I ‹
900 ABY, AIV-X152 'Cassard', Inner Rim's Northern Dependencies
Seventy.
It had been seventy years since the day Nukth Kelga'an — the Sieur of Anaxes — was born. Raised within the Galactic Core traditions in a humble family, he was a classic product of the Azure Jewel; an officer — not from the Navy, but an officer all the same — in the Empire of the moment who served the Cause, the Order or whatever its name was with piety or bigotry some would have said. About him, there was barely anything more to tell. He had had a family: first, parents and siblings that he was forced to bury following the Battle of Anaxes; then a now-dead wife and a now-lost son. Apart from this life in pieces, he had found a family in the first Banshees that he had nearly raised on his own. They had been supposedly dead Hussars that he had managed to take under his wing so they could continue to fight, using the best tactics and having access to the flower of Dalness Manufacturing. But then they all died one by one — a second time. Exegol had been the beginning of the end; then came their three last battles and the collapse of the Empire; he retired, hoping he could find out what had happened to his son; his wife died and when he was about to enlist again, an old friend — Andrew Holt — told him to join the Seveners. He only moved towards Damien's group because he knew it was the only way to do something entertaining for the rest of his life.
Seventy years later, he was here in the Cassard's training room. Thinking about his life and years of service, Nukth had understood since Exegol's incident that he was deathless. He had always felt he would have been killed in action, defending Order against Chaos. But he knew at that very moment that it was a mirage intended for young soldiers who didn't know a thing when it came to war. War doesn't give you the death you deserve; and when Nukth had become aware of that fact, he had known the time had come for him to retire. But then he had realised war was the only thing he knew and he had hoped it would give him some sort of internal peace.
The Sieur was too old for intensive training, but his duty forced him to somehow keep his figure. A commander had to show themself; the Captain had to lead by example. In doing so he managed to keep his new Banshees well-prepared for any combat situation. During his whole life, the Sieur had fought to take back Anaxes. The two Emperors hadn't shown an interest in that quest but, when Rurik Fel had died on Tython, he and his people had hoped the newly-established Triumvirat would have helped the TodHusars. With the Alliance and the Empire waging war on one another, it had been the perfect timing so they could trigger a campaign which would have resulted in the storming of Anaxes. On the contrary, the Free-State had only expanded its views on the central power and the Anaxsi's hopes were annihilated as a consequence. Unlike Haskler or the late Jerec Yularen, the Sieur felt no hate towards the Galidraani — he respected the two Regents and had been a close friend to Lord Aron since Panatha. But he had to admit they were self-centred.
As he was looking at the training puppet in front of him, Nukth realised their next destination in terms of campaigns would now be Yinchorr. The Seveners had managed to build alliances with many Imperial remnants all around the Galaxy. They now had serious allies who would help them take back the planet just as they were helping the Galidraani with theirs. It was just a matter of time but Nukth was tired. He only hoped he would die in a couple of months... or years. He didn't deserve more. He didn't want more.
A discreet jingling woke him up from his thoughts. A message told him the commander was waiting for him on the Cassard's deck. According to the brief sentence he was reading, another message had been received by the Imperial vessel. After a five-minute walk, the Sieur had reached the main deck, where his Navy counterpart was standing: «Captain Banjeer — long time no see, eh?»
«You're right, sieur — six cycles since the last time we've met. I didn't intend to disturb you as the Cassard has been through an observation phase since we've lifted off from Ord Lithone. But I assume this piece of information matters.»
First, Kelga'an didn't answer. To him, anything would have been less annoying than doing another training round. He simply nodded towards the Captain and the man showed him the message they had received through the old Imperial HoloNet. A man who couldn't be clearly identified by the Sieur was standing in front of the holocam. He was calling ex-Imperial warlords, moffs and officers to meet on New Bakstre. According to the way he talked, the man clearly didn't expect anyone would be answering the message or even listening to it. And odds on that other Imperials would also listen and come. Nukth clenched his jaws. This event was about to bring epicness to the observation group the Cassard and its task group constituted. Or at least a slight distraction.
«Captain, please inform Colonel Vourc'h that we're movin' towards New Bakstre. An' tell Lord Ryso we'll be there for dinner.»
